Who did more with less? Honestly, look at that team LeBron took to the Finals. It is as bad as the current Cavs team.
Of course the Cavs' dropoff can be attributed to to Lebron - but partly in a different way than a lot of people think. Not only are they missing his contributions on the court, his departure also forced them into rebuild mode. This year's Cavs team was a team on a mission... a mission to tank. And they came through in a big way and ultimately succeeded, as we can see now. If anybody thinks Lebrons value as a player is as big as dropoff in the Cavs' wins, they're deluding themselves.
The Cavs weren't trying to tank this year (except possibly at the very end). They were just that bad. They'll be pretty bad next year too. Hopefully the picks will help out and they'll be back in the playoffs in a few years.
Don't think so. Without Bron, they weren't going to go anywhere, that much was clear. So be best thing they could do was to tank quick and hard for a few years and hope that they'll pick up a few players that will help them become at least semi-relevant again. Not tanking would've been stupid from their POV.
When did this alleged tanking begin? Because I saw the Cavs play hell of a games against both the Clippers & Lakers in late Feb.
Every player, no matter how good, has some holes in their game. No one should be expected to do everything. What's funny is that almost everything in the OP could describe someone like Dirk, too. And yet Durant is an even better scorer (and better defender) than Dirk. I don't think many would argue that Dirk is a superstar... Durant is a top five player. Period.
...and you really think a team full of professional athletes and coaches would not try to win a game?
Usually the way teams tank is by unnecessarily sitting out players (since every player has minor knick knacks they can use as excuses). The Cavs may have done this with Davis etc. However, they were most certainly trying to win games with the players they had on the floor. They just aren't that good.
Durant isn't a superstar...he's a manufactured superstar. <iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tYzznhIZBzY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Absolutely, if they think it benefits them. Why do you think the draft lottery was introduced in the first place? Oh, and btw. Durant absolutely IS a superstar. You may not like the way he looks, plays, whatever, but it's silly to argue he's not one of the league's absolute top players.
The lottery was invented to give teams less of an incentive to lose games. No professional athlete or coach is going to purposely lose games. It will never happen. On the alternative, teams often sit players who are healthy enough to play if the team has nothing left to play for. The Magic did this with McGrady the year before he was traded. The point is: even if you forced Rick Adelman to play without Kevin Martin for the entire year, the Rockets players would still be trying to win every game. "Tanking" in the form of coaches/players intentionally losing doesn't exist. You claimed Cleveland tanked -- I'd like to know how? You really think those players on that team wanted to suffer through the 20+ game losing streak and be the laughing stock of the league? Me neither. They didn't tank, they were just a bad team. The same Baron Davis that was sitting out games with knee injuries / general out-of-shapeness prior to his arrival at Cleveland? Is that related or was Cleveland really worried a past-his-prime Baron would lead them to more wins? I'd lean toward the former.
He's a superstar. <iframe width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NjrEf9vVjLc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
That dunk is definitely going in the all time great dunks in playoff history. Congratulations Durant.